Christian Brother is again accused of molestation

October 21, 2009

Victims' advocates protested Wednesday outside the South Side home of a Christian Brother accused by a former student of molesting him during a field trip in 1977.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in North Dakota, David Gaffaney, 47, of Minnesota, accuses Charles Anthony "Raimond" Rose, now 76, of fondling him at a Ramada Inn in Orlando, Fla., while Gaffaney was sleeping. The two were on a field trip sponsored by Shanley High School, a Roman Catholic School in Fargo, N.D.

Gaffaney came forward when he learned about five other lawsuits filed against Rose last summer. Rose faces multiple suits for allegedly abusing students at two schools run by the Christian Brothers in Minnesota.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday names Rose, Shanley High School, the Diocese of Fargo, Fargo Bishop Samuel Aquila and the Burr Ridge-based Christian Brothers of the Midwest.

"Given our dedication to educating our youth, we are deeply saddened to learn that another complaint has been filed stemming from sexual abuse that occurred in 1977 by Brother Raimond Rose," said Brother Francis Carr, the provincial of the Christian Brothers, in a written statement. "Brother Raimond Rose is currently in his 70s and has not been in active ministry since 2002. In that regard, Brother Rose has not had any contact with minors since that time."

But victims' advocates said that's hard to believe because Rose lives in a residence for Christian Brothers next to De La Salle Institute, a coed high school run by the religious order.

On Tuesday in front of Rose's residence, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called on "Cardinal Francis George to insist that Rose's employer put him in a remote, secure treatment center so kids are safer and so Rose will get therapy."